Research Paper on:
American Liberalism and Industrialism

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
fundamental assumptions of traditional American liberal ideology. Clearly, one can readily surmise that such ideology has been transformed in response to the social and economic changes that have occurred  since the late-nineteenth century. To what extent have the core assumptions of American liberalism continued to dominate American political culture? When one considers whether or not American liberalism  has suffered irrevocably, it becomes clear that liberalism, in and of itself, was at least partly responsible for some of these changes. I. LIBERALISM  According to Weinstein, "the confusion over what liberalism means and who liberals are is deep-seated in American society."1 The origins and basics of traditional American liberalism gave  direct rise to the ideals and concepts of individual political freedom and its intimate connection with economic freedom. However, this rebirth also led to a suffocating individualism that ultimately  overshadowed the very reason liberalism had been embraced in the first place. The spirit of liberalism holds at its heart the development of individual freedom. As the concepts  of freedom change throughout history, so too do the concepts of liberalism. Liberalism seeks to change in order to improve. Assuming that people maintain a rational intellect and  have the ability to recognize and solve problems can often achieve systematic improvement within the human condition. However, there are times when this all-out effort is not always enough  to perpetuate the favorable elements of liberalism.2 Glendon notes that many important changes took place in American society with regard to individual political,  economical and social concerns; some were positive while others were for the worse.3 Indeed, one of the most critical aspects of this particular era was the fact that political